The Panda Restaurant Group parent company of Panda Inn Panda Express and Hibachi San was founded by Andrew Cherng Peggy Cherng and Andrews father Master Chef Ming Tsai Cherng. Andrew Cherng and his father are from the Yangzhou region of China Jiangsu province while Peggy was born in Burma and raised in Hong Kong. Both Andrew and Peggy Cherng are alumni of Baker University in Baldwin City Kansas (where they first met). Andrew went into business with his father in the United States in 1973 opening their first Panda Inn restaurant in Pasadena California. At the beginning business was lacking to the degree that Andrew had to offer special deals and freebies so that customers would dine at Panda Inn. In 1982 Peggy joined Andrew in the restaurant business. While operating Panda Inn Andrew became acquainted with then UCLA head football coach Terry Donahue as well as Terry brother Dan who happened to be in the real estate business. It was because of this connection that in 1983 Donahue Schriber Real Estate the manager of the Glendale Galleria invited the Cherngs to develop a fast food version of Panda Inn for the Galleria food court and Panda Express was launched that October. A second location was opened two years later at the Westside Pavilion in 1985. The chain has steadily expanded across the United States since then. Chef Andy Kao claims to have developed the original Chinese-American orange chicken recipe at a Panda Express in Hawaii in 1987.The Panda Restaurant Group parent company of Panda Inn Panda Express and Hibachi San was founded by Andrew Cherng Peggy Cherng and Andrews father Master Chef Ming Tsai Cherng. Andrew Cherng and his father are from the Yangzhou region of China Jiangsu province while Peggy was born in Burma and raised in Hong Kong. Both Andrew and Peggy Cherng are alumni of Baker University in Baldwin City Kansas (where they first met). Andrew went into business with his father in the United States in 1973 opening their first Panda Inn restaurant in Pasadena California. At the beginning business was lacking to the degree that Andrew had to offer special deals and freebies so that customers would dine at Panda Inn. In 1982 Peggy joined Andrew in the restaurant business. While operating Panda Inn Andrew became acquainted with then UCLA head football coach Terry Donahue as well as Terry brother Dan who happened to be in the real estate business. It was because of this connection that in 1983 Donahue Schriber Real Estate the manager of the Glendale Galleria invited the Cherngs to develop a fast food version of Panda Inn for the Galleria food court and Panda Express was launched that October. A second location was opened two years later at the Westside Pavilion in 1985. The chain has steadily expanded across the United States since then. Chef Andy Kao claims to have developed the original Chinese-American orange chicken recipe at a Panda Express in Hawaii in 1987.